Royals down Braves in extras

Jun 27, 2013 - 5:04 AM
Kansas City, MO (Sports Network) - Alex Gordon's RBI single in the bottom of
the 10th inning lifted the Kansas City Royals over the Atlanta Braves, 4-3, in
the finale of a two-game interleague series.

The Braves sent Alex Wood (0-2) to the mound in the 10th. David Lough led off
with a single to right-center field, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and
scored the game-winning run on Gordon's single to left.

"He's (Wood) got good stuff. The first time I faced him I had a rough day,"
Gordon said. "I just wanted to see his fastball and cutter. Pretty hard and
good velocity, so I got ready early and I think he left it middle-middle. I
put a good swing on it."

Gordon went 3-for-5 with a solo homer for the Royals, who bounced back after
losing the series opener by a 4-3 margin on Tuesday. Salvador Perez and Billy
Butler each knocked in a run.

Kansas City starter Luis Mendoza allowed two runs on five hits while striking
out six over 6 2/3 innings. Aaron Crow (4-3) tossed a scoreless 10th to pick
up the win.

Justin Upton drove in two runs for the Braves, who had a brief two-game
winning streak snapped. Reed Johnson had an RBI.

Atlanta starter Mike Minor gave up three runs on nine hits over six full
frames.

The Royals jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Gordon led off the
frame with a homer to right-center field. Butler hit a two-out double to
right-center field and raced home on Perez's base hit to left-center field.

The Braves wasted a golden scoring opportunity in the second. With the bases
loaded and one out, Chris Johnson struck out swinging and Andrelton Simmons
grounded into a fielder's choice.

Kansas City tacked on another run in the third. Gordon and Alcides Escobar hit
back-to-back singles to start the frame. Gordon moved to third when Eric
Hosmer lined into a double play and scored on Butler's base hit to right.

Atlanta finally got to Mendoza in the seventh. With one out, Dan Uggla and
Chris Johnson hit consecutive singles. Simmons then grounded into a fielder's
choice to put men on the corners. Bruce Chen came in from the bullpen and
pinch-hitter Reed Johnson greeted him with an RBI single to center. Jason
Heyward walked to load the bases for Upton, who tied the game on a two-run
single to center.

The Braves put men on first and second in the 10th, but Gerald Laird grounded
into an inning-ending double play.

"He's (Crow) got the good slider and obviously he wants to get ahead. I tried
to take advantage of it," Laird said. "For myself, knowing he's going to try
to get ahead of me, I hit the ball pretty hard. I just hit it right at him
(third baseman Mike Moustakas)."

Game Notes

This series marked Atlanta's first-ever visit to Kauffman Stadium ... Perez
went 3-for-4 ... The Royals had 12 hits.